


All Mixed Up

by anderswrites



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: (like these tags), Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, And Virgil's trying to stay straight, Angst, Anxiety, Bullying, But there's fluff too!, Child Abuse, Drug Use, Eventual LAMP/CALM - Freeform, Fluff, Gay, I'll tag more as I go, In which Roman's trying not to fail, It's really not okay, Jock Virgil, Logan's trying to survive, Multi, Nerd Roman, Patton's trying to stay happy, Soooo much angst, Trigger warning in each chapter, Virgil's a gay mess, emo Patton, etc - Freeform, injuries, not any canon characters, pastel Logan, roman's dad though
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-07-19
Updated: 2020-01-04
Packaged: 2020-07-08 06:00:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19864669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anderswrites/pseuds/anderswrites
Summary: Virgil Prince, Roman Crofter, Patton Algarotti, and Logan Perez. Four Kids just trying to survive high school and home life. But everything seems to go worse than they would've ever thought life would. Why couldn't they just be normal?Your normal Sanders Sides High School fic, but with a strange twist.This is based on the Stereotype Switch AU by @romantichopelessly





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Anxiety, Bullying, Depressing Thoughts, Overuse of Italics
> 
> Notes: None, really. But let me know if I forgot a warning!
> 
> Summary: It’s the first day of the second semester, and Virgil is just trying to survive High school. It’s not easy when you only have one real friend and one not-so-real personality

Chapter 1

Virgil Prince

* * *

Virgil loved his family. He really did. But why did they have to be so _loud_?

He had four… _exuberant_ siblings (for lack of a better word), and every morning was the same. They’d all wake up at 6:30 in the morning, clamoring around the house, attempting to get ready. Well, most of them did. Virgil rolled over to look at his baby sister, Mia, who was standing up and looking at him, waiting for him to get her dressed. Virgil and Mia shared a bedroom while his other sister and brothers shared another one. Their parents slept by themselves.

Virgil huffed, sitting up to smile at his patiently waiting sister. Sometimes Virgil thought Mia was the smartest of the whole family. He stood up to pick her up from her crib, bouncing her on his hip while he picked out clothes from her side of the dresser. He then set her on his bed to get dressed quickly before carrying her downstairs to the kitchen.

Downstairs was chaos, but that was no different than usual. Setting Mia in her highchair, Virgil grabbed five bowls, spoons, a carton of milk, and an array of cereal options. Sometimes he would make eggs, but he was too exhausted for that. Some idiot on the football team was goofing around and got them all in trouble, causing his practice to run late, causing Virgil to be late picking up his siblings, causing his parents to go off on a rant about ‘responsibility’ or whatever. Virgil loved his parents, he really did, but sometimes he wondered if they were ever kids. They were probably born adults.

Humming in amusement and satisfaction with this idea, he called everyone for breakfast.

Quicker than lightning at the mention of food, three, now angel-looking, children appeared in their seats. Virgil rolled his eyes, pouring out everyone’s choice cereal options. Eating his breakfast, Virgil thought about his upcoming day. 

He had a new project he had to start in science today. Every semester, students switched some classes (a part of one of the school’s “brilliant” ideas to help students make new friends, Virgil was sure) and Virgil’s science class had been one of his that had changed. The new semester started today, and Virgil knew that Mrs. Owens always assigned a group project to a new class. He hoped he’d get a better group than last time. He had gotten two of his teammates and a kid that didn’t talk much. His teammates spent the whole class time teasing the poor kid while Virgil secretly helped with the work, the quiet kid coming over to his house after school. He had eventually learned that the kid’s name was Elliot, and they were actually pretty sweet. Virgil hated that the people he was so-called “friends” with meant he couldn’t talk to people like Elliot.

Shaking off his anxiety for the project, Virgil collected everyone’s dishes, loading them into the almost-full dishwasher.

He made sure everyone was fully dressed and ready before telling them to get their backpacks on. He waved goodbye to his mom, who was coming out of the bedroom, already on the phone and looking stressed.

Virgil walked his siblings to the bus stop, Telling them all goodbye when their individual busses came. Aiden and Annalise, Virgil’s brother and sister (they were twins) left first, waving as the bus pulled away, on its path to the elementary school. Carter’s bus arrived next, transporting him to the middle school. As he waved goodbye, Virgil started his path to the daycare center a few blocks from his house. He was only able to drop Mia off because it was on his way to school.

Once she was checked in with Cora, the daycare supervisor, Virgil put in his earbuds to listen to music and help pass the time. It certainly helped, and in what felt like no time at all, Virgil arrived at the horror show often known as school. It was only a few minutes before the warning bell so he went straight to his locker. He checked his schedule to make sure he had stuff for the right classes and all of his homework, because, while he might not care _too_ much about grades (except for athletic reasons), public humiliation from his peers and disappointment from his parents were two very real possibilities. While sports may have helped to boost his outward confidence, on the inside, he was still a small, scared person, all too influenced by what his peers thought.

A locker near his slamming shut brought his thoughts out of the hole they had started to spiral down. _Focus_ , he told himself. _They’ll never know if you fake the confidence. Do you want to go back to your previous social status? No? That’s what I thought._

He sighed tiredly, shutting his locker tightly before walking to class, backpack thrown over one shoulder. He glanced around, spotting a tall boy in a red sweatshirt. “Hey, Jake!” Jake perked up and grinned, running to catch up to Virgil. They talked on the way to their first class, American History. Virgil was nervous the whole time that he would say something wrong, but Jake was definitely one of the nicer jocks. They were talking about the science project, how Jake also hoped for a better group, when they arrived at the classroom and took their seats in the back. 

They joked around until class started, then passed a sheet between them to continue a silent conversation. They took notes when necessary, but since it was a new semester, it was mostly going over the rules of the class. It was a good way to start the day, letting Virgil relax a bit and actually feel some of his previously fake confidence.

Of course, that was when it went wrong.

Class had just ended and Virgil and Jake were leaving the room when there was a slam from down the hallway, along with a shout of, _“I’m talking to you, fairy!”_

The two friends sped up a bit to see what was going on, only to see Trey Tanner walking next to a short boy. Trey was the tallest boy on the football team and was practically the leader of all of the jocks; a group Virgil regretted to admit he was a part of. The kid that Trey was teasing was very small. He couldn’t have been much taller than 5 feet, and it didn’t help that he was hunched in on himself, shoulder forward and head ducked. He wore a grey and white sweater with rainbows on the sleeves, a grey skirt, and grey and white converse with rainbow laces. A butterfly clip held his hair out of his eyes. His backpack seemed much too big and he was clutching a book to his chest.

Trey kept blocking his way, taunting him and pushing him. He was clearly looking for some sort of reaction but he got none, and it was clearly frustrating him. He finally blew up, grabbing the book out of his hands, throwing it down the hallway towards Virgil and Jake. He whispered something in his ear that made him flinch and stormed off.

Virgil sighed, glad that Trey had left. He hated that he didn’t feel comfortable helping people with Trey around, but it was a habit by now. 

He bent down and picked up the book that had landed at his feet, smoothing out the cover. _Matilda_ , he read. He walked over to the kid and handed it to him. The shorter of the two looked up in surprise, beautiful, deep blue eyes shining with fear and confusion behind his thick-rimmed glasses. His face turned slightly pink and he took the book quickly, muttering a quick thanks before rushing off.

“What was _that_ all about?” Jake had caught up with Virgil without him noticing. The latter shrugged, not knowing how to answer the same question he was currently asking himself.

* * *

The next few hours passed rather quickly, Virgil silently thanking whoever created the schedules that he shared several other classes with Jake. He also shared a class with Trey (which sucked), and he heard him laughing about the “fairy” he was teasing earlier, saying he might beat him up later if he felt like it. It was disgusting, honestly, how Trey treated some of the people in this school.

Finally, it was time for science, the last class before lunch. He was quietly excited for this class, wanting to know his group for the first couple weeks of class. The group also decided who you were going to sit with for the remainder of the semester. If you got a good group you were lucky. Mrs. Owens usually assigned groups using random methods, such as picking names or spinning a wheel. But Mrs. Owens was a very creative soul, you never know what might be up her sleeve.

Arriving in the science room, Virgil saw several students were standing around the outside of the room, most likely having been instructed to do so by Mrs. Owens, who was standing behind her desk, shuffling through some papers. He joined those standing, picking a spot near the corner, next to another dude on the football team. They exchanged a fist bump as a greeting before each taking out their respective phones. As more people filed in, Virgil’s excitement and anxiety peaked. Most of his thoughts centered around two main points; _Who will it be?_ and _AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH._

Yeah, he was a bit anxious.

The final bell finally rang, signaling the end of the passing period. One last student ducked through the door, a tall kid in a too-big hoodie. They sighed, probably in relief, before closing the door behind them. 

Mrs. Owens smiled at everyone, starting the hour with a greeting of, “Good morning, everyone!” most people chorused their own ‘good morning’s back, others rolling their eyes in annoyance. 

“So,” she began, eyes sparkling behind her glasses. “Today is the first day of the new semester, and all of you know what that means!” There were a few groans and mutters, both excited and otherwise, from the class. Mrs. Owens smiled at the class, a knowing look on her face.

“I know that many of you may be anxious for your groups, so I have devised a plan that may change things a bit. If not, it will at least level the playing field a bit. As much as most adults may try to ignore it, I am well aware of the cliques and groups inside this school. Thus, I am, along with picking groups for the project, conducting a sort of social experiment. Every group contains people from different defined cliques in the school, and I have done my best to get a variety of personalities in each group as well. So, without further ado, I will announce the groups for this semester’s group project!”

Mrs. Owens’ speech didn’t do much to ease his anxiety, but it did pique his interest. At least it meant he wouldn’t get stuck with other, less productive jocks. She pulled a sheet from the stack next to her, beginning to read it off. As he listened to the list being read, he listened to names he knew, not hearing many. Once in a while, he saw someone he recognized from the halls or football practice move to a table.

“Group 4: Patton Algarotti, Roman Crofter, Logan Perez, and Virgil Prince.” There it was. He didn’t recognize any of the names, which was probably a good sign. He steeled himself, moving over to sit at the table. He caught Trey’s eyes from across the room, and he was looking at him with a pitying smirk. Virgil shot a confused look back, before turning back to his table, finally seeing his group mates.

 _Oh_.

The boy next to him was the same one that Trey had been bullying before. He still had the book clutched to his chest, seeming to hold it a bit tighter than before.

The other two people he didn’t recognize much other than from passing them in the hall. One of them was the kid who had come in late, the one in the too-big hoodie. His hair was dyed a light blue at the ends and he had bags under his eyes, most likely from lack of sleep. His shoulders were slumped slightly and he looked ready to drop. The other kid was wearing a short-sleeved black button-up and a red tie. He didn’t have glasses, but he looked like the kind of person who would buy them just to complete the look. He had a serious, almost bored expression on his face and he seemed like he’d rather be anywhere else at the moment. An interesting group. He thought, suppressing a sarcastic smile. He sighed; best to start by breaking the ice.

“I’m Virgil Prince. I’m 17, and I play football.” He smiled tightly, almost a smirk. “Who’s next?”

The boy across from him sighed, introducing himself. “Patton Algarotti, 16. I write sometimes.”

The nerdy-looking boy went next. “I am Roman Crofter. I’m 17 and I enjoy reading.”

The boy next to Virgil went last. “I’m Logan Perez. I’m 15 and I like music.”

Virgil raised his eyebrows. This boy must be pretty smart. He was surprised that Logan was the one who had apparently skipped a grade and not Roman; he looked more like the type who would have. 

He shook off the thought. He should know by now not to judge a book by its cover, but it was difficult. High school was full of stereotypes that ended

“Okay everyone,” Mrs. Owens spoke from the front of the room again. “I trust everyone has at least greeted their tablemates, so we’re going to get started! We won’t begin the planning process until later this week, so today we’re going to play a getting-to-know-you game!”

Everybody dragged their chairs in a big circle in the middle of the room to their teacher’s instruction. She stood in the middle of the circle, turning to look at every one. “Alright, this is a classic get-to-know-you game. One person stands in the middle and says something that others might relate to. For example, I could say ‘I like playing soccer’ and everyone who enjoys playing soccer would have to get up and switch seats. If you get caught standing with no other seats, you go in the middle. Who would like to go first?”

They played the game for the entire hour, Virgil actually learning some things about his groupmates. He found out that both Roman and Logan had an enjoyment for musicals, Patton liked comedy, and all three of them loved Harry Potter (a thing Virgil lied about when he didn’t stand).

The bell rang after a while of playing, signaling the end of the period and the beginning of lunch. Mrs. Owens called out a reminder to brainstorm project ideas over the ruckus of chairs being put away. The crowd of high schoolers pushed through the classroom door, jostling and shoving each other to get to their tables. There were technically no assigned seats, but everyone had them anyways. It was kind of cool sometimes. Virgil just wished he had a better seat.

Virgil sat a table that mostly consisted of the football team. The star players sat at one end, and their friends and teammates filled the rest. Every table went under a different stereotype; the jocks, the preps, the nerds, the misfits, and the outcasts. Every clique stayed to themselves and rarely did someone belong in multiple social groups. There were two tables for jocks (the football and soccer teams respectively). There was only one table for nerds, about three for preps (based on popularity and status), and two main tables for the misfit groups. The outcasts were spread throughout the rest of the cafeteria. 

While standing in line, Virgil easily located where his groupmates sat. Patton and Roman were sitting across from each other at the end of the nerd table, a space next to each of them that disconnected them from the others. Logan sat in the back of the cafeteria, sitting alone and reading his book. Virgil felt a twinge of guilt toward the three. Then he realized the line had started moving forward again, and he, once again, shook himself out of his own head. 

A few minutes later, now armed with a plastic plate of poison, someone got his attention.

“Yo, V” Virgil internally cringed. The only person who called him ‘V’ was-

“Hey, Trey, what’s up?” Trey scared him, but Virgil still forced himself to act casual. Trey saw him as a friend, an ally, even though Virgil actually hated him. But Trey didn’t need to know that.

“Me and a couple boys are gonna beat up this kid after school. Wanna join in?” No matter how many times Virgil declined, Trey couldn’t take the hint that bullying others wasn’t his thing. He didn’t _want_ to hurt others, unlike Trey. 

“No, my parents are making me take care of my siblings.”

Trey groaned, “Again?”

“Well, I do have four of them.” Trey sighed and rolled his eyes.

“That makes sense. Another time then.” And without waiting for another answer, he walked away.

Virgil shook his head, half in confusion, half in exasperation. Trey never listened to him before, he didn’t know why he expected anything to change. Virgil collapsed down next to Jake, pushing his lunch forward to hit his head on the table. Jake just calmly pat his back as he took a bite of his sandwich.

* * *

At the end of the school day, Virgil found himself wandering around the school. His siblings didn’t need to be picked up for an hour or so, so he had time to spare. He was lost in thought, wondering how his project was going to go this semester. It was only the first day; they wouldn’t even be picking a subject for a while, but Virgil still felt anxious. Then again, when _wasn’t_ Virgil anxious? It seemed like a common presence in his head.

Not that he could let anyone know about that. Not even Jake, his only friend in this Hell of a school. Virgil didn’t want to risk the only true friendship he had with his stupid feelings. 

There was, however, a tiny voice in the back of his head. Barely more than a whisper, like the sound of a feather falling to the earth. Like a cat’s whiskers rubbing together. Nothing more than a breath being let out. It was rarely heard, and even less often was it listened to. This voice told him it was okay to feel these things. It was normal and perfectly _fine_ to have negative feelings. Virgil loved this voice, but it was never the loudest one. The black shadow of fear usually clouded over it, nearly erasing it altogether. 

So Virgil listened to his fears, and in doing this, became the very thing he had feared most. Being a tall, lanky emo kid, he was often bullied. His insecurities took over, pushing him to join sports. He found he was actually quite good at them. So he dropped his hoodie and makeup, adopting a new look, and a new personality. He scored with the right people, making it to the top. And yet, sometimes he wished things could go back to the way they were in middle school. He’d had friends. Good ones, too. But high school changed them, leaving him behind. So he did the same.

Virgil turned another corner, coming to an empty hallway. He sighed and turned around, going the other direction instead.

Until he was hit by a small moving wall.

It didn’t knock him over, but the student who had walked into him was walking at a quick pace, knocking him back slightly. The short boy looked up at him, surprised.

It was Logan again, looking like he was about to fall apart. Virgil held back a joke ‘ _we really have got to stop running into each other like this_ ’, instead going to ask if he was okay. Logan had a blossoming bruise on his cheek, under his left eye. His hair was slightly messy and he looked a bit disoriented. But before Virgil could even start, Logan turned around and ran off. 

As Virgil watched after him, worried, a realization hit him upside the head, knocking all previous thoughts loose. 

_‘Oh no, he’s really cute.’_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: Mentions of drugs, Alcohol, Abusive parents, Absent parents, Bullying, Excessive Pining, Excessive use of italics
> 
> Notes: None, really. But let me know if I missed a warning!
> 
> Summary: It’s the second day of the second semester, and Roman just wants to succeed. It’s not easy when no success seems to be enough.

Chapter 2

Roman Crofter

* * *

Roman hated his father. 

I mean, could you really blame him? Mr. Crofter was a drug-user, an alcoholic, and an altogether douche. 

“Hey! Boy!” came a shout from downstairs. Roman sighed and rubbed his face, thankful he’d woken up early and was already ready. He didn’t want his dad mad at him so early in the morning. He walked briskly to the living room.

“Yes, Sir?” he asked, back straight, trying to sound respectful. 

“Look at me when I speak to you, boy.” he snarled. Roman immediately looked up at him, regretting it. He had yellow-tinted eyes and as unshaven. Due to an unhealthy amount of beer and cigarettes, his teeth were permanently colored yellow and his breath smelled like the pits of Hell. Roman tried not to gag, but clearly, something showed on his face, as his father’s eyes narrowed.

“Disrespectful,” he spat. “Just like your mother.”

Roman fought off a flinch at the mention of his mother. He hadn’t seen her in seven long years. He didn’t know what to think of her anymore; he had great memories of her, but she’d left him alone with his father. And that hurt more than anything. He’d spent countless sleepless nights contemplating to himself, why would she leave? So, due to a mix of fear of his father and hurt from his mother, he never defended her. 

His father sighed, slumping back into his chair. “Get out of my sight.” Roman did not hesitate to walk away, slightly faster than normal. As soon as he made it back to his room, he sighed in relief. His father was in a good mood today. He quickly grabbed his pre-packed backpack and slung it over his shoulders. He adjusted his tie (his father’s “suggestion”) and walked towards the door. 

“Try not to fail today.” came a snarl from the living room. Roman did flinch at that. He tried so hard to keep his grades up, but it was never enough for his father. As much as he hated it, despite being classified as a ‘nerd’, he was more of the obsessive, starry-eyed nerd. 

He was in drama club, and he’d memorized tons of scripts from his favorite musical. He also loved singing and would sing musical theater all day if he could. Everyone in school knew about his passion for the theater, but nobody knew about his other passion for-

“Hey, _freak_! Nice outfit! Where’d you get it, Walmart’s dumpsters?” Trey sneered from his locker.

Roman scoffed. That wasn’t even a good insult. “Yeah! I found your personality there too.” He shot back. Trey just rolled his eyes and turned away. Roman smirked. Most of these bullies were so stupid. Roman had a fairly good build, so they didn’t dare get physical with him. (Trey tried once and nearly got knocked out. It was hilarious.) But that didn’t stop them from taunting him whenever they could. Most of the time it didn’t bother him but on a bad day…

But it wasn’t one today. And Trey wasn’t linguistically equipped enough for his words to make an impact anyway. So Roman continued his walk to his locker. 

Spotting a blue and black hoodie, Roman gained a sinister smirk. Stalking slowly toward his prey, he got ready to pounce.

Suddenly, Roman jumped forward, grabbing his best friend by the shoulder. “Ahhhhh, _frick_!” Roman burst into laughter, his giggles doubling when Patton glared at him. It was like being glared at by a big kitten. No, not a cat, a big kitten. Because as much as he tried to make himself seem smaller, Patton was a pretty tall guy. Tall, and kinda adorable.

“You could’ve made me drop my croissant!” Patton pouted, making Roman’s laughter grow louder still. He got a couple of weird looks, but he didn’t care. This was high school; they’d seen worse. 

Roman quickly took his textbooks from his locker, slipping them into his backpack. He threw the bag back over his shoulder and grabbed Patton’s arm, dragging him to their first class. 

They took their seats near the front of the class. Roman was practically buzzing with excitement. AP English was his favorite core class. Mx. Schmitt was an amazing teacher too; they were very fair and believed in second chances, but was no-nonsense when it came to discipline. You would get what you deserved. 

Class went all too fast that day. They were currently just going over the syllabus for the class, especially the first unit, which would be a poetry unit. As they were exiting the classroom, Roman noticed Patton staring at Roman like he might pass out any moment just from pure excitement. “Relax, Pat. I’ll try not to faint, promise.” Patton looked startled for a moment before laughing.

“Yeah, right. I wouldn’t put it past you, with how overdramatic you get.”

Roman gasped like he was offended. “Me!? _Overdramatic_!? I’m _so_ hurt that you would _possibly_ _think_ such a thing!” And if Patton’s cheeks were slightly pink when he was laughing, Roman didn’t think much of it.

* * *

Due to the size of Roman’s school, all juniors had the same gym class every day, just with several teachers. So, as you would expect, it was complete chaos. Today was just a sort of pretest, though. Just seeing how much everyone knew about different games they would be playing throughout the semester. Afterward, everyone ran laps around the gym and they played a few games of dodgeball. The head gym teacher, Coach Bush, loved that game. Or loved making them play it anyways. 

Coach Bush let them choose their own teams at first before realizing that, no, that was probably a bad idea. He switched up some of the people on each team, deciding that it was fairer this way. He ignored the complaints from friends who were split up, dumping out the ammunition and blowing his whistle for the dreaded game to begin.

Immediately, the gym became a raging battlefield. Colorful blurs soared from each side, picking off easy targets. The teams diminished rather quickly, leaving a handful of students on each side. Trey was one of them left on the opposing side. He made a strange gesture to someone on Roman’s team. He turned when he heard someone shout “Hey, Roman!”, only to get hit in the back of the head. Roman saw the person who’d shouted (one of Trey’s friends, he recognized him now.) along with Trey himself burst into laughter. 

There was a whistle from the sidelines. “Tanner! Sidelines!”

Trey’s expression nearly radiated ‘worth it’, and, though Roman knew it was petty, he felt anger boil in his stomach. If this  _ troglodyte _ thought he could just get away with that, he had another thing coming.

Out of the corner of his eye, Roman saw one of his teammates throw a ball that an opponent caught. Coach Bush blew his whistle twice, and everyone on the opposing team swarmed onto the court. Roman picked up a ball near his feet, getting ready. And as soon as Trey stepped into the boundaries…

WHAM

And he was back out again. 

He gave him an incredulous look, but Coach’s whistle confirmed it. Trey sent Roman a death glare, but the latter merely bowed dramatically. 

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a speeding ball. He turned toward it but couldn’t react in time. But then… it was caught. Somebody ran over to protect him. And when his savior turned around to look at him… oh,  _ God _ .

He was  _ hot _ . 

He was tall and muscular. His dark hair was falling into his face, and the sweat from exertion only made him hotter, and  _ oh, God, he could spit on me and I’d thank him- _

And then, oh God, he smiled. He was hot before, but with his smile, he was absolutely gorgeous. 

Roman’s mind instantly went into Panicked Gay Mode. His brain was screaming at him to  _ smile back, you idiot _ , but luckily for Roman, the boy turned away. 

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Roman heard the bell ring to go to the next period, yet he stood frozen for a few more seconds before it actually registered. Then, as if finally waking up, he rushed to grab his backpack from the locker room.

* * *

The next two periods past in a blur of hearts in notebook margins. He was so out of it, he didn’t notice Patton was in front of him until he got poked in the nose. 

Roman blinked a few times before finally focusing, blushing when he realized what had just happened. 

“Oka- wait, are you blushing?” 

Roman frantically shook his head, but it was too late. Patton smirked slyly, stepping in front of Roman. “Were you thinking about someone?”

Roman stuttered through a “no”, but the blush increasing on his face did not help his case much. 

“You were!” Patton practically cackled with glee. Roman swears that boy lives for teasing him. He pushes past his best friend, trying to ignore him and just keep walking. It didn’t work very well. After what felt like hours of walking, Patton had to stop his teasing to enter their classroom. Only then did they remember what their next class was. Science. They had gotten their groups only yesterday. It was possibly the most awkward exchange in Roman’s life.

He was infinitely grateful to Mrs. Owens for putting Patton with him, but he was also rather suspicious. He’d had her in class before; she never did anything without some purpose. As for the other two people, he had no clue who they were. The tiny one (Logan, was it?) was strange. He was clearly really smart, but he didn’t sit with the other nerds. In fact, Roman had rarely seen him before yesterday. As for the tall boy, Roman couldn’t even remember his face or name. He didn’t want to look him in the eyes for some reason. 

Outside of Roman’s head, Patton exchanged a nervous glance with him before the entered the classroom.

They set down their bags next to their chairs, not needing to sit down just yet. Roman sat on the table (just because he could) while Patton remained standing, leaning forward on the back of his chair. Roman started to ask a question when he was cut off by the sound of one of their tablemates setting down his bag. Roman turned around to greet him and froze.

It was the hottie from gym class.

Roman’s face immediately felt warm and his hands went shaky. He felt a giggle playing at the inside of his chest. A  _ giggle _ . Roman  _ never _ giggled. He swallowed it, trying to calm himself down. He took a quiet breath, successfully bringing himself back into the present.

‘Don’t mess this up,’ His brain helpfully supplied as he smiled and waved at the beautiful stranger. Roman attempted to ignore Patton staring at him while the boy waved back. A couple more students walked in the door right before the bell rang, their last groupmate one of them.

Roman honestly didn’t know what to think of Logan. He didn’t talk much and Roman didn’t share many classes with him last semester. He just seemed like another being in the scheme of everything. 

Roman’s thoughts were cut off as the bell rang and Mrs. Owens called for everyone’s attention and started class.

The teacher passed out worksheets to everyone. She explained that the class was supposed to answer the questions based on their groupmates’ responses. She droned on for a few minutes about the importance of knowing others. Roman subconsciously tuned out most of it.

Roman was caught in a lovestruck daze for most of the class, despite how much he would later deny it. He couldn’t recover from a direct shot to his heart so easily. Before he knew it, class was nearly over and everyone was packing up. Roman shook himself out of his daze, standing up to pack his bag. He rested against the table, waiting for the bell to ring. As he watched his classmates, he noticed a group of the “jocks” moving towards him, Trey in the lead.

Tensing up, Roman watched them warily before realizing that the group wasn’t going for him. Instead, they walked over to the two people on the other side of the table. Trey smiled a bit sharply at Virgil before turning to Logan and saying something quietly. Logan responded just as quietly as the bell rang and the group went out of the classroom, along with Logan, Trey’s hand on his shoulder.

As he followed the students, Virgil turned his head back, smiling and giving a half-wave. Roman waved in return, hoping he didn’t look too eager. Virgil turned back to catch up with his friends.

Roman watched him go, hearts dancing in his eyes.

* * *

As much as he hated to admit it, Roman was a nerd.

Everyone in school knew that, though. He clearly loved all things broadway, even if he didn’t talk about it with anyone. What most people didn’t know was that he loved the ocean. He was fascinated by its creatures, enraptured by its mysteries. 

There was an aquarium just on the outside of town, not too far from the school. It was a good size, but few went there on weekdays. They had all sorts of fish, and Roman loved them all. But his favorite was the young bottlenose dolphin that lived there.

Every day, Roman would go there after school and watch, but the dolphin never came close.

And yet, he never stopped hoping. That could be Roman’s fatal flaw. He hoped for the dolphin, hoped for love, still hoped for his mo-.

“Welcome! Enjoy your visit!” a chipper voice knocked Roman out of his head as he entered the aquarium. He smiled in thanks at the employee as he walked past them. 

Roman spent a few minutes looking at different tanks of fish and taking pictures of his favorites. A bright red seahorse, a fully grown lionfish, the tiny pufferfish as they stared at him from their tank. He collected a few more pictures of different fish before making his way over to the dolphin’s tank. He sat down on the ledge in front of the glass, setting his bag on the floor beside him. He glanced around at the few people milling around, a few students about his age. He shook his head lightly and put in an earbud and opened his ‘broadway love songs’ playlist, putting it on shuffle. As Stephanie Hsu’s voice filled his ear, Roman brought out his sketchbook and opened the pictures on his phone. He began drawing.

After an amount of time (it could have been minutes or hours; he couldn’t honestly tell), Roman heard a thunk. He pulled out his earbud, confused, and looked around the room. There were no other people present. He shrugged and moved to put the earbud back in but he heard it again, louder this time. He sat up straighter and looked around again, somewhat annoyed. He turned to the tank to rest his head against it only to come face to face with smooth grey skin and dark, intelligent eyes.

Roman didn’t dare breathe. He couldn’t move, too afraid of startling the being floating in water just a few inches away from his face. The dolphin flipped in the water before nudging its forehead against the glass.

“That means he likes you!” Roman jumped, turning around quickly to see an adult wearing a vest and tie. They held out a hand for Roman to shake.

“The name’s Emile Picani! Do you how do?”


End file.
